Just Plain Stuffed (Plus a Quilting Update)

A few weeks ago I attended another quilt retreat at Homeplace Bed & Breakfast (SC). As always it was a lot of fun, food, laughter & a good time spent with friends. I made my first 'big girl' quilt.

It's a king size! I used some fabrics that were gifted to me & some I had gotten at garage sales over the years. I finished the top at the retreat then had one of the quilting ladies there, quilt it on her long arm machine. She did a beautiful job! It's 108" x 112" & there was NO WAY I was going to tackle this behemoth! The pattern is called "Broken Star", a variation of a Carpenter's Star.from a booklet published by Debbie Maddy of Calico Carriage Quilt Designs.

Close up of center star.

Once I finished w/this I decided to make a laptop quilt out of some vintage reproduction fabrics I had in my stash. Pic is sideways but you get the idea. It's called a ribbon box quilt, free pattern from Coud9 Fabrics. It is 56" x 62".

Since I got home I've finished up on my Christmas Table toppers that I will be using as a lining for baskets of goodies to give away this year.

While at the retreat my sewing machine wasn't working very well & I had neglected to take my Featherweight. My friend Debbie (the enabler) kindly loaned me one of hers to use. Otherwise, I would have been twiddling my thumbs the whole time.

Now I have to get my mid arm machine (another post entirely) set up so I can get all these projects quilted & bound before Christmas time rolls around.

On another note, I actually planted a few things in my garden beds here in the city. As usual it is proving that only about 3 or 4 hours of sunlight is NOT enough to produce prolific results.

String Beans & carrots in the pot.

Squash Zucchini, Cucumbers, more carrots & marigolds in front.

Onions taken over by weeds.

I had waited way to late to plant the onions & scallions so most just died. I still have a couple at the very back of the bed, we'll see if they hang on. Too darn hot for them.

The squash & zucchini have lots & lots of blooms but never product any fruit. No pollination happening & I'm not doing it by hand. One of our neighbors has gotten bees but their scouts haven't come down to visits. Sooooo, since they aren't making baby squash I decided to stuff some of the blossoms.

Cheese mixture in bag.

Decent sized blossom. Most were smaller than this.

Stuffed with cheese mixture.

All stuffed & ready to fry.

I picked & stuffed yesterday & as the last pic shows, I had a bit of cheese left over so I picked a few more this morning & finished up the cheese. Will fry them up tonight using a tempura type batter. We've had these before & they are delicious!

Well that all that been happening around here ... until next time.

p.s. I have been scrounging the Internet looking for this discontinued fabric.

It's called Anastasia by Robert Kaufman (orange, black & gold colors). If you have some in your stash or see any for sale, please let me know. I'm more than willing to pay for it. 

I Got My Dining Room Back!

Even though I didn't take a pic just imagine ... on my dining room table .... sewing machine, thread box, extra parts for machine, scissors, seam ripper, bits & pieces of material, quilt patterns & a whole host of other things, plus unfinished projects draped across each of the chair backs.

I have a workout room in my house in the city. It held a treadmill & yoga stuff. The treadmill hadn't been used in quite some time. It was a very nice one but when I looked on Craig's List there were 15 or so listed so I gave it away to a former co-worker instead of listing it & then waiting for it to sell. I had a project in mind ... a sewing table!

I now have a sewing room!

The opposite side of the room.

Got filing cabinets & chair from work. Greg bought & cut a 3/4" piece of plywood 34" x 8'. I had an old picnic tablecloth that fit it perfectly. We attached it w/spray adhesive & stapled to the bottom.

I still have plenty of room for stretching & doing my little exercise routine. The top bin is empty & the other two contain my less than desirable fabrics & my work shirts waiting to be turned into more of these:

One end looking onto courtyard. Door to right is to back porch.

Grow light stand/storage shelving. The other end is just a closet wall.

I found that I had enough room to the left of the sewing machine to hold a mini ironing board.This was made with leftover plywood, some batting & an old pillowcase. I don't have to set up the big ironing board for pressing those small quilt pieces. It's 9" x 26". Here's how I made it.

Board, batting cut just a bit bigger than board so it wraps the edges & pillowcase.

Place batting on top, flip over, then start stapling pillowcase to back.

Simple letter fold & staples.

Viola. a mini ironing board!

That empty bin in the above photo used to contain what is now in 2 of the drawers!

Some of my reproduction fabrics.

Solids, misc, Fall & Christmas.

One other drawer contains patterns, books & my unfinished projects & the last one contains extra supplies like batting & large background material.

Now I can invite friends over for supper & we have a place to sit & eat. I am a happy girl! 

Homemade Gifts Finished!

Here are the first table runners & hot mats that I made for my friend, sister & Dad's wife.

Front

Back

And more table runners & pot holders for the people that work for me.

The table runners are all reversible with fall fabric on the back. I made 23 various 'cookies in a jar mixes' & attached the potholders to them. Didn't get a pic though.

I've also continued to find fabric at bargain prices from estate sales. Here's a pic of my latest purchase:

This was about 1/2 of the entire box ($25 for all). I plan on making a wedding quilt for a cousin that is getting married next June out of some of this. A simple 5 or 6 inch square pattern. I'm still a novice.

For now, I've put it all away just to get my dining room back. It's very addictive but taking a break is essential to hopefully keep me from burning out. Would love to have a room to keep it up all the time but that isn't possible right now.

Oh well, gotta get back to wrapping presents.